Miguel Weissman’s exploration into the Manhattan, Bronx, East Village and Hoboken, NJ music scenes led to getting on wax and gigging in Harlem and deep into the East Village (Avenues A-D) at after-hour clubs. This was the advent of the emerging Black Rock, Blues, Punk and Avant Garde Jazz communities.

Miguel played with Donald Dixon, Tack Heads (Sugar Hill Gang}, Eddy Von Bach, Ghetto Fighters, Afrika Bambaata, The New Left, Spy v Spy, GTO and The Soul Squad, Sammy Carr, Johnny Thunders, Robert Gordon, Lester Chambers and Charles “Bobo” Shaw at the great clubs of the time like The 7A Club, The World Club and The Pyramid Club in the East Village as well as the Continental Divide, 55 Bar and Danceteria, to name a few.

Miguel joined a band called The Gismo in 1979. Also in that band was Stan 157, one of the original graffiti artists. The Gismo was an early R & B band. They played at after-hours clubs in Harlem. For Miguel, as the only white man in the room most of the time, this was an experience he would never forget. The love shared there was profound and he was always welcomed.

Miguel Weissman Donald Dixon

Miguel collaborated with Donald Dixon in the Bronx in early 80’s on Hill Street, overlooking the Yankee Stadium. They worked on a 4-track reel-to-reel, with a Shure 57 microphone, a delay unit and one 8-bit AKAI sampler.

Miguel saw what life was like for black people in the ‘hood during a time when it seemed like the world had forgotten them. Miguel learned how resourceful this community was and risked his life going up there when crime and desperation were out on the streets! He knew back then that cops stopped men on the street for nothing at all.

There were guns shots constantly in the background. Sometimes there would be a knock on the door and Donald would explain to his clients that Miguel was here to record them and he was white. He would take their guns and bring them into the studio.

He experienced the same thing in the East Village. Going east of First Avenue back then was very dangerous! One night, Miguel was walking on 11th Street and was robbed of his Selmer Mark VI saxophone by a junkie. That’s when he decided to focus on the harmonica and music production, although he still plays the sax, flute and keyboards.

At Continental Divide, a club on 3rd Avenue and 8th Street, (the one that had a big dinosaur on top) he played with the DJs Smash and Stone, who were working turntables while he and other jazz musicians played over the top on the sax, flute and harp. They created the Acid Jazz Movement in the New York scene.

“Wet Ride, Fat Jazzy Groves 6 & 7″ for New Bread Records represents the collaborations between musicians and DJs that created the Acid Jazz Movement in New York. Miguel also worked with Warlock and Sleeping Bag Records where he collaborated with DJs Stone and Smash, GTO, William Socolov, and the Latin Rascals.